


Drinks With A Pinch of Sugar

by Westy



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Bartender Shane Madej, Bisexual Ryan Bergara, Gay Bar, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-01-16 02:51:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18512398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Westy/pseuds/Westy
Summary: “Excuse me, have you seen a tall muscular guy with a smaller brunette with him?” Ryan asked some random man, who just shook his head and headed back to the bar counter. ABBA started playing again and it was slowly driving Ryan nuts. “I hate Mamma Mia,” he mumbled.***Ryan's first visit to a gay bar ends with him taking interest in the tall bartender.





	1. Blue Hawaii

It was his first time at a gay bar.

He couldn’t believe it. He was 21, it was his birthday, and he was at a gay bar. He had come out as bisexual a few years before to his best friends Ally and Stephen, the same two who had decided this would be the best idea in the world. They were a few years older than the birthday boy, which is why they knew the location of the bar so easily. The three friends sat in the corner while other people danced like it was the last day of their lives to some ABBA.  
“Well? Do you see anyone interesting?” Ally asked, sipping her sweet orange-pineapple drink that sparkled in the glass.  
“No,” the other one muttered, almost hiding behind his bottle of beer. He grimaced after tasting it for the third time. “This tastes… like death.”  
“C’mon Ryan”, Stephen laughed and patted the one called Ryan on the back. “There must be someone here for you! Just keep your eyes open, buddy.”  
“I don’t know. Now can I get another drink?”  
“Don’t be so down. Even though your girlfriend broke up with you, you’re allowed to have a good time on your birthday,” Ally smiled. It was a nice gesture, sure, but it didn’t cheer Ryan up. “You can have my drink if you want to,” she tried to make Ryan enjoy his time.  
“No thanks, I’ll get my own. Stephen, you want this?” he got up, almost pushed the beer to Stephen and started his journey to the counter. The music was loud and people were so drunk they almost fell on Ryan as he walked through the dance floor. The floor was sticky and Ryan was almost sad he had put on his favourite pair of black Converses.

There were a lot of people waiting for their drinks before Ryan. He saw at least three lesbian couples, a man flirting to another man (who was so drunk he probably wasn’t in this world anymore) and two bartenders. The girl had pink hair, she threw bottles in the air like a pro and was wearing a black tank top - she looked real cool. It was obvious she had been working on her skills for a long time - or maybe she was just born to do it.  
The other bartender was a man, probably some years older than Ryan himself. He had short, ruffled up light brown hair. The bartender was a bit lanky and a taller than Ryan - he also had eyeglasses on and made some basic drinks for the drunken people who tried to flirt with him. Ryan would never do something like that.  
“Hey, you in this world? Gonna order or what?” the man asked, waking Ryan up from his dreamworld.  
“One of… uh… those, please”, Ryan pointed at the list that was hung on the red brick wall.  
“You know you can say the name of the drink too?” the other one smiled. “Is this your first time at a bar?”  
“Uh - I - yes”, Ryan was a bit confused. Was it that obvious? “I meant I want to have the Blue Hawaii.”  
“You sure you can handle it? It has vodka in it” the bartender smirked but started to make the drink nevertheless. Ryan got a bit upset, but calmed down quickly, when he heard the woman who served drinks say:  
“Shane, let the boy off the hook.”

The bartender called Shane raised his eyebrow and finished the drink in silence. It made Ryan a bit uncomfortable. When Shane gave the drink to him, Ryan tried to say something sensible - he didn’t really succeed.  
“It’s my first time here - I mean I haven’t been here before, like, in a gay bar, or basically any bar ever -”  
“You don’t need to tell me your life story, boy,” Shane gave him the card reader.  
“I have cash.”  
“Old-fashioned? I like it.”  
“Gotta be sometimes,” Ryan muttered.  
“Here’s the change. Don’t spill the drink on your pretty face, the dancing can get a bit hardcore at times.”  
Ryan felt blood rush to his face. It was dark in the nightclub, luckily, so no one really noticed. Was he flirting with him? No, that was probably just his imagination. This Shane fellow was like that with all of his customers, Ryan was sure of it.  
“Thanks,” he just said, flustered, and almost ran back to his friends.

Stephen and Ally really tried to make Ryan dance. It was their goal for the night: to make the boy who never danced, dance.  
“You’re just not drunk enough!” Ally said, definitely a bit drunk herself. Stephen was already stumbling towards the stage, almost mauling an innocent bystander with his body.  
“You guys go dancing. I mean. Stephen is there already,” Ryan pointed at his friend, who was swinging his arms around like a madman - Stephen was really off his face. Ally sighed, shrugged and left Ryan alone.  
“Please join us soon!” Ally yelled from a distance, as she joined Stephen and tried to calm him down by grabbing his hands. Ryan lifted his Blue Hawaii up in the air and smiled. Maybe that was what he needed, just a bit of being on his own. Dancing wasn’t really his thing.

It was 1:25AM, and the bar was about to give the last call soon. Ryan looked around him - he had zoned out and didn’t feel too good. He had drank Ally’s drink which had been almost full, with permission, of course. “I hope it wasn’t roofied”, Ryan muttered and tried to clear his head. Ryan had been drunk once before; when he was nineteen, he had made his parents mad and zoned out so badly it felt horrible - not to talk about the hangover the next day. Ryan didn’t really like to be super drunk because of that one experience, it was like a small trauma.

Suddenly he realised. Where were Ally and Stephen?  
“Fuck”, Ryan muttered to himself and looked around the bar. There were so many people on the dance floor and the stage that it was difficult to separate people from each other. They were all a big blur. “Gotta love dissociation”, he sighed and went to the bathroom. They weren’t there either, of course. “Excuse me, have you seen a tall muscular guy with a smaller brunette with him?” Ryan asked some random man, who just shook his head and headed back to the bar counter. ABBA started playing again and it was slowly driving Ryan nuts. “I hate Mamma Mia,” he mumbled and stopped to think for a bit. Maybe they were at the smoking area outside? Ally did smoke, and Stephen joined usually joined her. Filled with new energy Ryan walked outside, only to find a familiar bartender talking to the bouncer, who was probably smoking her second cigarette. Ryan stopped at the door. It really was Shane.

Ryan had to admit to himself, Shane was interesting. His lanky features were nice to look at and his jokes which made Ryan uncomfortable were funny, to be honest. Ryan took a deep breath and walked up to them. It was a bit cold outside, it was November, after all. He didn’t have his jacket and neither did Shane.  
“Um - have you guys seen a tall man with a smallish girl come outside?” Ryan asked. Shane took a look at the bouncer, who shook her head.  
“Neither have I,” Shane said. “Sorry, kid.”  
“I’m 21 already,” Ryan rolled his eyes. “How old are you anyway? 23?”  
“25,” Shane smiled. “I have every right to call you a kid, kid.” Ryan bit his lip. The bouncer looked at Shane and Ryan, put out her cigarette with her foot and opened her mouth to say something.  
“I’m gonna go inside to see if everything is still nice and easy,” she smiled and disappeared inside the nightclub.  
“Sure thing, Wendy!” Shane yelled after her. Ryan and him just stood in silence for a second. The wind blew through their hair, making Ryan shiver a bit. “You’re a cold blooded one, I see”, Shane smiled. “Anyway, how has the night been, newbie?”  
“It’s been great, but I lost my friends just a minute ago”, Ryan answered, sighing. “I took my eyes off them for like a few minutes and they had already disappeared.”  
“Maybe they were upstairs?” the taller one asked mysteriously. Ryan gulped, but not audibly - he didn’t know why this everyday conversation got him so worked up.

“Ryan!”  
“Ally?”

Ryan heard a familiar noise coming from the inside. He saw Ally standing at the door, with her coat on.  
“Where’s Stephen?”  
“He found some girl, they went home together I guess”, the brunette smiled. She was always so sweet. “I was just about to go home, I thought you had left when we couldn’t find you.”  
“Where were you guys anyway? I lost you.”  
“Upstairs!”  
"There's an upstairs?"  
Shane smirked knowingly, which was something Ryan couldn’t handle. He felt so stupid, like a school boy in front of his crush. He felt like a freaking youngling next to Shane. Shane was already out of college, probably - and Ryan still had courses left.

Ryan grabbed his jacket and was about to leave with Ally, but then he heard a yell.

“Hey!”  
“What?” Ryan asked, turning around.  
“Come another time, too. We have a special night next saturday.”

Walking.

“Heyy!”  
“What…?” Ryan had to turn around again, this time a little further away from the bartender.  
“I hope you don’t get a bad hangover! I put a bit too much vodka in your drink, sorry!”

Ryan rolled his eyes and walked.

“Hey!”  
“What?” Ryan didn’t turn around this time. He was getting a bit annoyed.  
“I like your shoes,” Shane shouted from a distance. Ryan turned to take a look at Shane, who waved his hand. “We hope you had a good time, newbie!”

Ryan blushed a bit. He turned his eyes at the ground, thinking of something to answer, but when he was about to do it, Shane was gone - he had probably went inside to give the last call.

The favourite pair of shoes getting dirty didn’t bother Ryan anymore.


	2. Margarita on The Rocks

_Shane._

That bartender and his long limbs had been on Ryan’s mind for at least five days now. Ryan thought that it wasn’t very normal for a customer to think of a freaking bartender that much, or maybe it was, he didn’t actually _know_ know. He had never been that interested in anyone, except for his last girlfriend. Shane was… intriguing. He had a funny-looking face, he had finished bartending school - or whatever school you go to for bartending experience and learning how to pour drinks - and had flirted with Ryan. At least Ryan thought so. It must’ve been like that, right? No one says ”I like your shoes” without ulterior motives, even though Ryan’s shoes _were_ pretty nice. The man wanted to slap himself in the face. He had missed the first class of the day and just lied in bed now because the next class didn’t start until 11AM - a longer breakfast sounded perfect, actually.

It was really difficult for Ryan to not think about Shane. It was like the bartender was a virus inside his brain. At first, for the next few days after the incident, he had been okay, hadn’t thought about it too much. Then Ally had asked about Shane.  
_”Will you go next Saturday?”_  
_”What do you mean?”_  
_”The bartender, what was his name, Steve or something? He asked if you wanted to go next Saturday. I was just wondering, sorry -”_  
_”Oh, I have to think about that! I had totally forgotten.”_  
Starting from that point, the next Saturday felt like a better idea day by day. Did Shane really want Ryan to come? What was the special night about? Was Ryan confident enough to flirt back? Was Shane even flirting with him? Questions filled Ryan’s head when he got up and went to the kitchen to make himself an omelette - he and his stomach needed food pretty badly. Ryan put on some music from his Bluetooth speaker and Spotify, started cooking and soon he had something resembling an omelette on a plate in front of him.  
”Finally,” he said to himself and started eating. School would start in 2,5 hours.

It was Friday, so the long-waited Saturday was about to knock on the door. Class went by easily; Ryan knew almost all the techniques they were studying from a optional course he had taken last year. Ryan was supposed to see Stephen after school, but according to a text from Stephen he was across the city at some girl’s place when Ryan got home. Typical Stephen, he picked up girls like they were flowers. Ryan didn’t really like the way Stephen left all of his girlfriends after a day or two because he ”got bored”, but knew Ally had already… told him their opinions on the matter. He was a good buddy, yeah, but as a boyfriend, he was fucked up. Ryan let out a sigh and sat on his couch. His apartment had only one room and didn’t have that much space, but at least it was cozy.  
”Saturday,” he spoke to himself. ”I should go.” The decision was made there and then. What would he lose (except for his heart)? A special night sounded like fun. Ryan was a bit scared that it would be something about kinks or other stuff like that, to be honest. On the other hand, he had the right to leave if things would get too weird. That’s why he made himself a promise to go.

The next day Ryan woke up early, took a long, hot shower and decided to wear the same shoes he did the first time. Clothes were a different question - he had absolutely no idea what to wear. Black was always a safe choice, but a black t-shirt with jeans felt like a too casual of a choice. That’s why Ryan chose a dark blue t-shirt. The difference wasn’t that big, but big enough to notice, he at least thought. The jeans were black still, because he was hoping the weather stayed good enough to use his blue winter jean jacket.  
”Ally,” Ryan called his friend. ”I’m freaking out.”  
”Don’t start! It will go well, I’m sure of it!” Ally’s voice was as chirpy as always, and it made Ryan calm down just a bit.  
”Thank you, let’s hope so. He’s probably working all night so I will just… sit somewhere.”  
”You sound so scared. You have been on dates before too!”  
”It’s not a date!” Ryan almost hissed at his friend; not in an angry way, though. ”Even if it was a date, I have never been on a date with a guy. It’s all new to me.”  
The call went on for a few hours, up until Ryan went to pick up some good old pizza.

The evening arrived slowly but surely. Ryan stared at his reflection in the mirror, trying to find small imperfections to change - like wrinkles on his shirt - but couldn’t find any. Perfect.  
”Here I go,” Ryan gulped. He checked if he had his keys, his ID, his money - the most important stuff. It took about 35 minutes by public transport to reach his destination, so he left after checking the time and turning off all the lights in his apartment. It wasn’t too cold, so the winter jean jacket was the perfect choice for a night out. He sat in the back of the bus - it was Ryan’s usual place. The gay bar was near the next stop, so with shaking hands Ryan pressed the stop button and walked over the road to the nightclub.  
”Papers please,” it was a different bouncer this time. ”Thanks, you can go in.”

The music was loud, the lights were bright and the few people who were inside had drunk too much already. The bar was not even half full. Ryan looked around him. Hm, apparently it was a gay men’s night. That was what the special night was about. No kinks, no BDSM; Ryan was pretty relieved. He didn’t know what to expect from a gay nightclub so his thoughts had flown high and loud. He walked to the bar counter and felt his stomach drop to the ground.

Shane wasn’t there.

”Uh - give me a - a margarita.”  
”Starting off with tequila? You’re a brave one,” the not-Shane-bartender said and while paying for the drink, Ryan tried to ask about Shane.  
”Is - is Shane here…?” he said carefully. The man behind the counter scratched his head.  
”No, I don’t think it’s his shift today.” He looked sorry, so Ryan just walked over to the same couch he and his friends had sat at last week and made himself comfortable. He sighed. Ryan had known it was too good to be true. He had known Shane was like that with all of his customers. The taller one just wanted to lure in more visitors, like a siren or something. Ryan started to send a disappointed text to his friends, when -  
”Hey.”  
”Huh?”

Ryan raised his glance from his phone and looked at his right. It was an (almost) familiar face, Shane.  
”You - I thought you were working tonight?” Ryan asked, surprised. Shane looked good. Not in the usual sense of the word, he looked… good in his own way. His hair wasn’t as ruffled as it was last week, and he didn’t have his glasses on. He had a black-red flannel over a gray shirt. Shane had funky legs, they were so _long_ and Ryan could not not stare at them, but Shane looked good to Ryan and that was all that mattered.  
”Nope,” Shane shrugged and say next to Ryan with his beer. ”A margarita? So fancy.”  
”I got - I got surprised,” Ryan stuttered a bit, ”I thought you were gonna be behind the counter but you weren’t and -”  
”You talk too much”, Shane smiled. ”Well, not _too_ much. You’re a newbie in the dating scene too then, huh?”  
”I’m not!” Ryan took a drink to calm himself down and looked like he had swallowed a whole lemon. ”Jesus, that was a bit - strong.”  
”We have all been newbies once.”  
”Stop it,” Ryan muttered. Shane looked like he really enjoyed teasing his new acquaintance.

”I actually didn’t think you would come!” Shane said after taking more sips. The beer was halfway down already. ”I didn’t think you… realized it was a date invitation.”  
”I didn’t,” Ryan confessed. The other man looked amused. ”My friend did. You remember the girl who was with me? That friend.”  
”You two…?”  
”No - noooo”, Ryan started laughing, but the nervousness got through into the air. ”We have been friends for years now. It has never been like that.”  
”Okay,” Shane said. Silence fell in between them, but went away quickly because the bartender opened his mouth again. ”Are you gay?”  
”Wha - no?” poor Ryan was so confused. Shane noticed it.  
”Bi then? So am I. Lots of people to choose from, don’t you think?”  
”Bi or pan, I’m not sure - what do you need this information for?”  
”Nothing. I’m just curious,” Shane smiled sweetly but slyly. He was weird. Ryan liked it.

Shane had a brother. He had graduated from a bartender school in Chicago - PBSA to be exact. He had taken many different courses to be the best bartender he could be, he had a pretty good singing voice and wanted to adopt a cat.  
”You have the shoes,” Shane pointed at Ryan’s Converses. ”’Your shoes are nice’ isn’t my best pick up line but apparently it worked?” Ryan blushed and scratched his head.  
”Well, yeah - I guess so -”  
”You guess so? Thanks for the reassurance,” Shane laughed. Ryan knew, just somehow he knew it was genuine. It sounded genuine, it sounded free - it sounded like they had known for a longer time than two days.  
”Listen, Shane - give me your number.”  
”What if I don’t want to give it to you?” Shane teased him again. Ryan felt a rush of braveness flow through him. He wasn’t afraid anymore.  
”I guess you have to give it to me or you will regret it for the rest of your life.”

Shane looked at Ryan, nodded to himself and smiled. He took out his phone and started to write.  
”Okay, okay.” Silence. ”Here’s my number.” Shane gave his phone to Ryan for him to save the number. ”And I must admit - I like you, newbie. You _and_ your shoes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a fun one!

**Author's Note:**

> Not my first language, sorry for any mistakes!


End file.
